Louis tried the WT 147 yesterday and said something like: "it's a board where I can't decide whether I will love it or hate it. It goes upwind like hell and is very fast, but the edge seems to pull down into the water and suddenly, I get a lot of spray in my face".

Unfortunately, I couldn't try it in the choppy conditions, since we didn't have wind for long enough. But may be its the edging Louis and I are not used to?

It sounds like his everyday board uses more front foot pressure than the WT and may be longer. That's why it's happening. Other riders, use to different twin tips, may have different first impressions. Also the boards are very short compared to what most people are use to riding. A 147 WT is really only 138 long on the bottom. It rides like a 138. Trust me, a few more rides and it'll feel normal in length and he'll stop putting too much pressure on the front foot. It's a short board with quick response to weight shifting. Those flipped ends make errors in weight distribution easy to deal with. Try it yourself and you'll see what I mean.

Once you adjust, it makes other boards feel like Fords, while the WT is a BMW.

On 2002-09-02 17:33, jever98 wrote:Near miss. His normal board is a liquid force 134.The jury is still out for me, but I would like to try it again some time...

OK and here he is. Hi Dwight,

as nico already mentioned the point can't be the length of the board! I think the edge of the WT is VERY straight and therefore you have really to take care to ride the board with much more pressure on the tail than for example my board (liqidforce rhythm 34), which has an outline like a goody and is therfore in my eyes more forgiving than the WT.

I was REALLY impressed by the upwind and lightwind abilities and the way it holds the edge in really choppy water! What i disliked a little bit was the performance in turns (no chance against my wakeboard; maybe because i don't know the WT very well and it's so fast). Furtheron it seemed a little bit to stick on the water while doing small ollies on flat water (not over waves; that's great with the WT; landing is much softer than with my wakeboard; donno why)

As Nico already told i was really split. In the beginnig i just thaught about taking my good old goody and throwing the tray to the beach! But ther where those seconds i thaught wow man that's really great (in especial, when the wind picked up and the chops were getting higher and steeper!
I should have a couple of days more on that board. Could be the beginnig of a great love (think for me it could be the smaller one (142) because i'm really small and lightweight (172cm 70kg)

I have a friend who is 85kg and finds the WT142 much nicer for his weight (he had a WT147 and sold it). I'm 65kg and ride the WT137 which feels the perfect size for me. I do find the normal 35mm fins a bit small for my taste and prefer bigger (45mm).

I know what you mean about all the spray in the face and had the same problem a few weeks ago when I switch from the WT147 to the 137. I wasn't expecting this since I was already on a WT. It's just a matter of getting used to the way you should ride the board. The WT137 is a fast little devil, very maneuverable. I was out today in small waves in 15/16 knots onshore wind and did my 1st toeside backloop to toeside!

Love the board!

PS. Going for smaller boards: I'm also starting to feel that smaller boards go better with new generation fast kites (I think this opinion was stated in the forum earlier on). Maybe it's because fast kites shoot to the edge of the window easier (ie they depower easier) when you 're edging the board, whereas slow / deeper profile kites (like toro's/aero's) need you to edge the board quite hard before they move to the edge (you really need to keep edging hard to keep the kites further on the edge), hence you may find that a small board does not have enough planning surface to enable you to edge enough against the kite (you feel overpowered easily). Also small and fast boards (like the WT's) may bring out the best of fast kites, since it has been agrued that fast kites show their power once they are moving fast...

I was thinking of getting a WT142. Since I'm on the edge of your weight range (175KG) between the 142 and the 137, what would you recomend considering that I'm an intermediate rider and that I'll keep my Brunotti TT 161.
After I read your message the WT137 sound tempting.

my wt 137 has been alot of fun with the x2 12 and 16 i also ride it with the x2 20 but it can get a little overpowered compared say to my ss drake 147 u think its just to small for this large kite or what, i tend to loose more ground with the small board, then my 147ss and find it harder to load the board for big airs

On 2002-09-02 17:33, jever98 wrote:Near miss. His normal board is a liquid force 134.The jury is still out for me, but I would like to try it again some time...

Ah, but that explains the heavy front foot pressure he's used to riding with. I used to ride a Jimmy Lewis wakeboard. All the grip is in the front foot. It becomes automatic to press the front foot when a gust hits. That's not the way a wave tray rides.

On 2002-09-02 23:27, ctkiteboarding wrote:my wt 137 has been alot of fun with the x2 12 and 16 i also ride it with the x2 20 but it can get a little overpowered compared say to my ss drake 147 u think its just to small for this large kite or what, i tend to loose more ground with the small board, then my 147ss and find it harder to load the board for big airs

I think the 137 might be a little too short for the 20m. You may be feeling the extra rail length on the drake giving you more resistance against the kite.

I rode Jacky's 137 WT for the first time this weekend. She had bindings on it prior to now, so I hadn't been able to try it.

I had no problems with the volume or keeping it powered with my 12m Rhino. I weigh 83 kg. The problem I did have was not enough rail length to get a solid grip on the wave. We had big waves Saturday. 5 meters high. My board speed was very high riding those waves. I just didn't have a secure grip. I did think my 147 WT was just a little big in those conditions, but still controllable. I've split the difference and ordered a 142 WT. I feel safe doing this because I still have a bigger WT for light winds. If I only had one board, I'd stay with the 147.

This is what me and my friends looked like on the beach after our 5 meter wave session.

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